The PA and Sarah Bagharib

On the latest woke kerfuffle in Singapore, the dispute between Sarah Bagharib's wedding photograph and the People's Association:

Devadas K.:

"The MP apologised. The PA apologised.The vendor apologised. I am from an ethnic minority even smaller than that of this lady and even i think she has and continues to blow this matter way out of proportion. i agree with the PA that a meeting would serve no purpose as this lady clearly has an agenda to push a general accusation against the ethnic majority population that they are racist and that the PA is also racist. I do not share either accusation. While I have said that there is casual racial chauvinism l have rejected the insinuation that the people of Singapore are racist. If anything, her repeated attempts to whip up emotions online are tantamount to herself being racist and having an overblown sense of entitlement. In a heterogenous society, social cohesion is vital to maintain. That means being sensitive, which both the PA and the Vendor, have acceded that they were not in the first instance. But they have since made amends with their quick and public apology and corrected the situation by removing the standee. But social cohesion also means having a sense of proportion about instances of insensitivity or even individual acts of racism as in the case of the lecturer from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. These pin point instances should not be used as opportunities to generalise loosely or to appeal or rally minority groups into some coalition of resistance against something which is not there - I believe that the majority of my fellow Singaporeans are not racists. I do not believe that the PA is racist. Indeed, I do not even think this singular incident, while insensitive, was rooted in racism. Let us not make volcanoes out of the occasional mole hill. It is playing with fire and dangerous. Using fancy language such as used by this lady in her social media posts cannot hide, indeed underscore, that she has her own agenda to propogate. And I concur with the PA that it is purposeless to give her a platform to promote that unpremised agenda. Doing so would only lend legitmacy to her claims and l have little doubt that the meeting will not satisfy her and be framed as another episode of endemic racism. Better to leave her to stew in her own acidic juices. She has gotten her pound of flesh and that should be that. Let us not give oxygen to those with axes to grind and unsubstantiated broad 'firecracker' accusations to make. Time to move on. #singapore #diversity #equality #society #respect #socialmedia #people"

Of course, we know minority voices only matter when they support the liberal agenda, so he will be dismissed as an Uncle Toyesh.

In any event, this was smart of the PA, since we know that apologising to liberals just emboldens them to grievance monger even more.

On the same topic:

Michael Han:

"We must be careful how we frame an incident. Most times, it is not what happen that matters, but how what happen is perceived that matters.

This has to do a couple’s wedding photo being used by PA as a standee without their approval. The event was to wish all residents of Radin Mass “Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri”. It was a well-intended event no less.

 

Yet, PA should have known better. They hired vendor Warabi Enterprise and the latter downloaded the couple’s wedding photo and it was used as a standee without the couple’s permission. PA had made a public apology to the couple, one of them was Sarah Bagharib, 30. The vendor had also apologised to them personally.

 

PA then wanted to meet up with the couple “to clarify their position, elaborate on the steps it had taken to prevent such incidents recurring, and hear her suggestions of how it might improve at the meeting.” PA had also emailed to Sarah to assure her that they “value racial and religious harmony in Singapore.”

 

All seemed quiet at the southern front of Radin Mas before the standee incident took a peculiar turn. Well, it became a racist issue. That became the main draw for Sarah. And this is where things turn downsouth, and PA called off the meeting.

 

3 straws in fact broke the camel’s back for PA, and it involved 2 Instagram stories and an online talk show

 

First, in one of the Instagram stories, Sarah shared a post by @jeanpsychologist who thanked Sarah for her stand about the incident and “called for Chinese Singaporeans to educate ourselves on our conditioned racism”.

 

It also claimed that this is “long overdue towards our friends in minority communities who have to put up with our ignorance - which continues to perpetuate the racist culture that hurts them””.

 

Second, in the other Instagram story, Sarah thanked “those who stood in solidarity with her and her husband as well as other ethnic minorities after the incident (and other racist attacks and incidents).”

 

Third, PA claimed that Sarah “had insinuated in an online talk show hosted by (NTU) academic Walid Jumblatt Abdullah on June 7 that PA’s staff and volunteers did not find anything wrong with the standee as they might be “blind to racism””.

 

The three incidents above led to PA calling off the meeting with the couple. This is PA’s statement: -

 

“We do not see why our meeting should be appropriated as a platform for her to funnel the views and comments of persons unrelated to the incident. All these lead us to believe her purpose in agreeing to meet with us has gone far beyond the Radin Mas incident. We therefore see no point in proceeding with the meeting.”

 

Lesson? Just one.

 

Let’s face it, we are all different. Our skin colour is different. Our culture is different. Each of them has a long history, inherited and imported. We have different religions and rituals too. At times, we dress different. Our food also differs. We even talk differently.

 

That’s how different we are. That’s different races living together. That is the Singapore we have grown up in, whether we like it or not.

 

To complicate matters, there is the social and income divide too. In terms of inequality gap, Singapore is amongst the highest, same with its cost of living. That is the economic twist in the racial dagger. That’s a reality that is widening the social faultlines, making it easily inflammatory over seemingly unrelated incidents.

 

In the end, we want to see what we want to see. The race card is easily used whenever it aims to garner attention, ire and division. That is why we have to be careful how we frame an incident.

 

And how we frame it will determine how it is perceived, and once perception is set, especially when it arouses inflammatory racial/cultural sentiments, you galvanise the crowd, but it also comes at the expense of an even more divided society. We thus need to think with the long lens, instead of a magnifying glass, narrowly focusing the fury of race on one unwitting incident.

 

And come to think of it, it is also quite ironic that pertaining to the standee, it was a well-intended event to wish all Malays a happy holidays. And all the parties have readily apologised for their cultural insensitivity. But I see it as more of a procedural and decorum slip-up, without first seeking permission and respecting the privacy of others.

 

In any event, this is no Rosa Park in a bus intentionally segregated between the whites and the blacks. We are not at that stage, not by a long shot (but of course, let’s not take it for granted).

 

Since independence, for the last 56 years, we have all been guided by the pledge. That’s the OB marker we respectfully submit to, that is, the essence of our hard-earned unity.

 

Everything’s done was done conscientiously to preserve our fragile racial and religious harmony.

 

As such, we not only need to be sensitive to other races, more so if we are in the majority, but be sensitive to how we frame an issue, knowing how sensitivity can catch on and set tribalistic emotions aflame. 

 

So, does racism in one form or another exists in our economically divided little red dot? Of course it exists. Who are we kidding? 

 

But, we are also a melting pot, and different ingredients come together to sweeten and deepen the brew. And if we play our part, resist provocative reframings, avoid the lowest hanging fruit thinking, and seek first to understand instead of demanding understanding with preconceived toxic notions, then we can truly enjoy the fruit of our collective labour and unity in a pot of fragrant broth that tastes so much better with its hearty mix of diverse ingredients."